LeBron not claiming ‘mental edge’ over Raptors despite stunning game two display

The Warriors took a 2-1 lead over the New Orleans Pelicans, and, most important, welcomed back Curry.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Bill Simmons’ podcast that Love had left games “beleaguered and beaten down” because of James or the pressure of playing with him. Kevin Love came through with one of his best games of the series in game two, collecting 31 points along with 11 boards. “I think that’s just as big as a blocked shot, so for me, even if I’m not going to block the shot, I’m just trying to make him think twice or have him change up his finish so if he misses, I put myself in rebounding position”.

At one point, Love felt so helpless that he deliberately hacked Valanciunas across his arms on a shot attempt and as the Raptors’ seven-footer got up and walked toward the free throw line, he mouthed to his teammates, “He can’t guard me”. Korver and Smith knocked down 3s – Korver’s with 4:23 to go in the extra session stood for Cleveland’s first lead at 108-107. He came out and he played that way from the jump.

“One thing you have is pride”, Casey said.

According to Kevin Love, the surprising win was not a surprise to them because Game 1 was important and that for Game 2, the Cleveland Cavaliers “flipped the script”. Yes, James has made it out of the Eastern Conference the last seven years (four times with the Miami Heat, three times with the Cavs) and put forth a heroic first-round effort versus the Indiana Pacers – which means the Raptors haven’t been the only victims of his play. James finished with 43 points on 19-of-28 shooting with eight rebounds and 14 assists.

After that Game 1 give-away, the Raptors talked a strong game.

It’s hard to see the Raptors bouncing back against a team, and a player, who have dominated them over the past two seasons. “We have some matchup issues all over the court”. He’s averaging 34.5 points, 13.5 assists and 9.5 rebounds in the two semifinals games. Jonas Valanciunas chipped in with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Fred VanVleet had 14 points off the bench.

The series shifts to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday.

James, meanwhile, set career highs for turnovers in each of the last two regular seasons.

“I think in the in series, us turning the ball over and they were fueling that, getting to the rack, getting fastbreak points, things like that”, said George Hill, who scored 13 points and didn’t commit a turnover.

Returning to the present case, LeBron received the ball on the wing time and again, then held it, jab-stepping and head-faking to little avail.

In the third quarter, LeBron took over and looked every bit the best player on the planet, leading an 18-5 surge to start the quarter. Rozier found success against both, scoring a combined 21 points on 8-15 shooting from the field and 5-7 from beyond the arc. It’s a quarter that has been a bugaboo for the Cavs for most of the playoffs and the Raptors were ahead by as many as 13, but led only 87-82 entering the fourth.

When a quicker C.J. Miles was given a shot, Love proceeded to bully the Raptors small forward in the post on three different occasions in the third quarter. The Cavaliers completely dominated game two in Toronto, and when LeBron James is on his game as seen in game two, the Cavs are almost unbeatable.

The Toronto Raptors need a victory here in order to have any real chance of winning this series.

Toronto played well for most of the first half, building a nine-point lead just inside the 5-minute mark. The Raptors boast a 3-3 (.500) series record when losing the first game.

“Serge hasn’t been himself”, Casey said.